The Stripper's Guide blog discusses the history of the American newspaper comic strip.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Mystery Strips: Navajo Canyons

I picked up a set of 1972 proof sheets on eBay awhile back for a strip called Navajo Canyons. I received the first two Sunday strips, which tell traditional Navajo folk tales, and the first week of a daily strip about a Native American named Johnny Navajo who has been educated in a white school and is now returning to his family out west.

There is nothing particularly mysterious about a set of tryout strips that never got published, but there is one aspect of these that piqued my interest. Note that the Sunday strip above includes an NEA copyright slug in the final panel. That would seem to indicate that the strip was, at the least, picked up by the syndicate and marketed to their clients. Is that as far as it got?

Credited creators are Jason Chee and G. Johnson. I find several Jason Chees in a Google search, including a Native American-inspired artist, but no current contact info. If Jason happens to read this, how about telling us what happened to your Navajo Canyons?

I remember talking about this strip with writer Glen Johnson. At the time it was created Johnson was a teacher at the Intermountain Indian School in Brigham City, Utah. (In those days young Navajo children were shipped to Utah and boarded at the school. The practice was dropped and the school was closed sometime in the early seventies.)

Glen, who collected comic books, was working with several creators, Will Eisner among them, to create work books featuring the comic strips. The children would read the strip on one page, and on the facing page would answer questions about what they read.

Glen had written to the NEA Syndicate looking for permission to use an Alley Oop sequence as a workbook, and the Syndicate thought a strip about the Navajos would be interesting. Glen got a friend, Jason Chee, to draw it, but the Syndicate rejected his art. I remember seeing some other versions of the strip done by Creig Flessel. That version didn't sell to newspapers either.

This all happened about 1970. I haven't talked to Johnson in years, but I believe my memories of the events to be substantially correct.

My name is Allan Holtz. I am a comic strip historian, and author of "American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide." This blog is my outlet for all manner of interesting, oddball and rare material related to comic strip history. It is also a forum where others interested in comic strip history are encouraged to participate through the comments, or even by contributing articles.
Have some information about a strip or cartoonist you'd like to share? I'd love to hear from you! You can post a comment on any post (click on 'Post a Comment' at the end of any post), or email me (see below).
Note: All images on this blog are thumbnails - click on the images to see full size readable versions. Some browsers may require you to click on the image a second time to see the image at absolute full size (not reduced to fit your screen).

Legalities

All editorial matter on this blog is copyright 2005-16 Allan Holtz, except editorial matter in posts signed by Alex Jay, and may not
be reproduced without permission. All Rights Reserved.
All images of comic strip art are copyright by their respective copyright holders
except those in public domain. If you are the copyright holder of an image
displayed on this blog and would like a specific copyright displayed, or believe
the display transcends fair use, please contact me.